British Pathé Picks: Early Jan 2013

Twice a month we blog about footage in the archive relevant to upcoming events or important anniversaries. There are always plenty, so we can only present a selection and you can search the archive for more at www.britishpathe.com

Here are our picks for the next two weeks:

Hillary reaches South Pole  

(4 January)

55 years ago, Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole over land, the first to do so since Captain Scott. View the 1958 newsreel here.

Richard Nixon Born

(9 January)

It will have been 100 years since the birth of Richard Nixon on 9th January 1913. The American President, who was disgraced by the Watergate scandal, features in a great many British Pathé newsreels. Explore them here.

Heart of Thomas Hardy Buried  

(11 January)

85 years ago, the great writer Thomas Hardy died and his heart was buried separately from his body. British Pathé has footage of the burial of the heart in Dorset in 1928. Click here to view the newsreel.

Flying Scotsman retired  

(14 January)

50^th Anniversary: On 14^th January 1963, the Flying Scotsman made its last run. A collection of clips on that famous train can be found here.

And, of course…

150^th Anniversary of London Underground

We’ll be publishing a blog post all about this shortly, but we can’t miss it off this list of important anniversaries! British Pathé celebrates 150 years of the Tube with a collection of clips featuring construction footage dating from 1922. You can also see the tunnels used as air raid shelters during the Second World War, extensions of the lines in the late 1940s, and the work of cleaners and technicians after-hours. The innovations of the 1950s also get a look-in, while there is extensive coverage of the building of the Victoria Line, as well as its opening by the Queen. Click here to explore the collection.

Check back in two weeks for our next installment. In the meantime, you can visit www.britishpathe.com for more vintage films.